0963 Leo VIII elected Pope
1160 Jean Bodels “Jeu de St Nicholas” premieres in Arras
1196 Northern Dutch coast flooded, “Saint-Nicolaas Flood”
1240 Mongols under Batu Khan occupy & destroy Kiev
1424 Don Alfonso V of Aragon grants Barcelona the right to exclude Jews
1491 King Charles VIII of France marries Anna of Bretagne
1492 Haiti discovered by Columbus, at Môle Saint Nicolas
1527 Pope Clemens VII flees to Orvieto
1534 Quito, Ecuador founded by Spanish
1631 1st predicted transit of Venus (Kepler) is observed
1641 Don Francisco de Mello appointed land guardian of South Netherlands
1648 Pride’s Purge: Thomas Pride prevents 96 presbyterians from sitting in English parliament
1723 Emperor Karel VI’s Pragmatic Sanctie declares Constitution
1732 1st play in American colonies acted by professional players, New York NY
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlies army retreats to Scotland
1756 British troops under Robert Clive occupy Fulta India
1768 1st edition of “Encyclopedia Brittanica” published (Scotland)
1787 Laurens Pieter van de Speigel appointed Dutch pension advisor
1790 Congress meets in Philadelphia, new temporary US capitol
1820 US President James Monroe re-elected, Daniel D Tompkins Vice-President
1822 Veterinary school in Utrecht opens
1825 President John Adams suggests establishment of a US observatory
1833 HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin departs Rio de la Plata
1841 Robert Schumann’s 4th Symphony in D, premieres
1843 Amsterdam-Utrecht railway opens
1846 The opera “La Damnation de Faust” is produced (Paris)
1849 Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland
1862 President Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux Indians
1864 Battle of Deveaux’s Neck SC
1865 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery
1866 Chicago water supply tunnel 3,227 meters into Lake Michigan completed
1870 Joseph H Rainey, 1st black in the House of Representatives (South Carolina)
1873 1st international football game in US: Yale 2, Eton (England) 1
1875 44th Congress (1875-77) convenes
1876 1st crematorium in US begins operation, Washington PA
1876 City of Anaheim incorporated for 2nd time
1876 US Electorial College picks Representative Hayes as President (although Tilden won)
1877 Washington Post publishes 1st edition
1877 1st sound recording made (Thomas Edison)
1882 Atmosphere of Venus detected during transit
1884 Aluminum capstone set atop Washington Monument, Washington DC
1896 D T Suzuki found the awakening at Engakuji temple, in Kamakura
1903 Sumatra Atjehs guerilla leader Panglima Polim surrenders
1904 Theodore Roosevelt confirms Monroe-doctrine (Roosevelt Corollary)
1907 Coal mine explosions in Monongah WV, kills 361
1912 China votes for universal human rights
1913 White Sox beat Giants 9-4 in exhibition game in Tokyo
1914 German troops over run Lódz
1916 German army under General Mackensen occupies Bucharest
1917 Finland declares independence from Russia (National Day)
1917 French munitions ship “Mont Blanc” explodes in Halifax, kills 1,639+ and injures 9,000+
1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition creates Northern Ireland
1922 1st constitution of Irish Free State comes into operation
1922 1st electric power line commercial carrier in US, Utica NY
1923 1st presidential address broadcast on radio (President Calvin Coolidge)
1925 Record 73,000 pay to watch Chicago Bears beat New York Giants 19-7
1925 Italy, Britain & Egypt sign Jaghbub accord (Italy)
1929 Turkey introduces female suffrage
1930 18th CFL Grey Cup: Toronto Balmy Beach defeat Regina Roughriders, 11-6
1930 Pablo Neruda marries Marie A Hagenaar Vogelzang in Batavia
1933 Ban on James Joyce’ “Ulysses” in US, lifted
1938 117 Spanish knights under Captain Piet Laros return to Netherlands
1938 French/German non-attack treaty drawn (Ribbentrop-Bonnet Pact)
1939 5th Heisman Trophy Award: Nile Kinnick, Iowa (HB)
1939 Cole Porter’s musical “Du Barry was a Lady” premieres in New York NY
1940 Gestapo arrest German resistance fighter/poster artist Helen Ernst
1940 Pietro Badoglio resigns as viceroy of Ethiopia
1941 NYC Council agrees to build Idlewild (Kennedy) Airport in Queens
1941 Dutch & British pilots see Japanese invasion fleet at Singapore
1941 King Leopold of Belgium marries Lilian Baels
1942 Queen Wilhelmina announces Dutch Commonwealth
1942 RAF bombs Philips factory (150 die)
1944 US 95th Infantry division reaches Westwall
1950 Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Mirabile illud
1952 Czechoslovakian government tells Israeli ambassador, he’s persona non grata
1953 Brown’s Lou “Toe” Groza kicks 8 PATs, beating Giants 62-14
1954 Simone de Beauvoir receives Prix Goncourt
1955 New York psychologist Joyce Brothers won “$64,000 Question” on boxing
1956 Nelson Mandela & 156 others arrested for political activities in South Africa
1956 “Happy Hunting” opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 413 performances
1957 1st US attempt to launch a satellite fails-Vanguard rocket blows up
1957 AFL-CIO votes to expel Teamsters (readmitted in October 1987)
1957 Indonesia begins nationalizing Dutch possessions
1958 US lunar probe Pioneer 3 reaches 107,269 km, falls back
1960 American League grants Gene Autry a franchise, Los Angeles Angels
1961 27th Heisman Trophy Award: Ernie Davis, Syracuse (HB)
1962 US abandons Skybolt ballistic missile program
1963 Beatles begin a tradition of releasing a Christmas record for fans
1963 Test Cricket debut of Graeme Pollock at the Gabba
1964 KTVR TV channel 13 in La Grande OR (PBS) begins broadcasting
1964 President Segni of Italy resigns
1965 2 trucks crashed into a crowd of dancers (Sotouboua Togo) kills 125
1966 Polio vaccination becomes obligatory in Belgium
1967 USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1968 Baseball dismisses Commissioner William Eckert after 3 years
1968 PBA National Championship won by Wayne Zahn
1968 WKID (WSCV) TV channel 51 in Fort Lauderdale FL (IND) 1st broadcast
1969 300,000 attend the Altamont CA, rock concert feature Rolling Stones
1969 “Buck White” closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 7 performances
1969 USSR performs nuclear test
1970 Cleveland Cavaliers 1st NBA home victory, beating Buffalo Braves 108-106
1971 Lewis Franklin Powell confirmed as Supreme Court justice
1973 Gerald Ford sworn-in as 1st unelected Vice-President, succeeds Spiro T Agnew
1973 National League votes to move San Diego Padres to Washington DC (doesn’t happen)
1973 Bahrain’s constitution goes into effect
1974 George Harrison releases “Ding Dong, Ding Dong”
1975 Senator Robert Dole & Elizabeth Hanford marry
1975 41st Heisman Trophy Award: Archie Griffin, Ohio State (RB)
1976 War criminal Pieter Menten arrested in Zurich
1977 South Africa grants Bophuthatswana independence
1978 Spain adopts constitution
1980 Jim Bakker rapes Jessica Hahn
1980 NASA launches Intelsat V
1981 Rob de Castella of Australia sets Marathon record at 2:08 18
1982 11 soldiers & 6 civilians die by bomb planted by Irish National Liberation Army exploded in a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland
1982 Senator Ted & Joan Kennedy divorce
1982 Bomb attack on Londonderry, North Ireland disco, 17 killed
1983 A bomb planted on a bus in Jerusalem explodes, kills 6 Israelis
1984 Hijackers aboard Kuwaiti jetliner kill 2nd hostage
1984 France performs nuclear test
1985 UK joins US Star Wars project
1986 52nd Heisman Trophy Award: Vinny Testaverde, Miami FL (QB)
1986 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1987 3 satanist Missouri teenagers bludgeon comrade to death for “fun”
1987 Christa Rothenburger skates female world record 500 meter (39.39 seconds)
1987 Jane Crafter/Steve Jones win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1988 Arafat meets prominent American Jews in Stockholm, Sweden
1988 Milwaukee Bucks win their 1,000th NBA game (2nd fastest)
1988 Nelson Mandela is transferred to Victor Vester Prison, Capetown
1988 STS-27 Atlantis lands in California after secret mission
1988 Agnes Neil Williams purchases Baltimore Orioles for $70 million; Eli Jacobs becomes CEO of Baltimore Orioles
1988 Carlos Andrés Pérez re-elected President of Venezuela
1988 Merv Hughes takes 13 wickets vs West Indies at the WACA but Australia lose
1989 Mafia drug kingpin bombs security force at Bogotá, kills 52
1989 Worst Canadian mass murder: Marc Lepine kills 14 women at University of Montréal
1990 NHL grants conditional membership to Tampa Bay Lightning
1990 Saddam anounces release of all foreign hostages
1990 Shoeless Joe Jackson’s signature is sold for $23,100
1991 “Star Trek VI-The Undiscovered Country” premieres
1991 “Les Miserables” opens at Circustheater, Scheveningen
1992 300,000 Hindus destroy Ayodha Mosque of Babri India, 4 die; riots follow
1992 81st Davis Cup: USA beats Switzerland in Fort Worth (3-1)
1992 Dottie Mochrie/Dan Forsmann win LPGA J C Penney Golf Classic
1992 San Francisco 49er Jerry Rice catches NFL record 101st touchdown
1992 San Francisco Giants renig on $43 million pact with Barry Bonds
1993 Gunda Niemann skates ladies world record 5 km 7 13.29
1994 Maltese Falcon auctioned for $398,590
1994 Orange County California files for bankruptcy
1994 Warner Brothers announces a 5th TV network to begin on Jan 11, 1995
1995 6th Billboard Music Awards
1995 Michael Jackson collapses will rehearsing for an HBO special
1996 Mashonaland defeat England in first-class tour match